This is chaos. Let’s see if they give us those [recall referendum] forms so that we can sign them and get rid of these people [the PSUV], since they’re making our lives so complicated. This is getting worse every day. I want the referendum of the [constitutional amendment that would end Maduro’s term next year] to come quickly so we can get rid of these people.

Vitola traveled to Caracas with one of her sons, who went to line out at another supermarket to increase the family’s chances of being able to buy food. However, Vitola said they had not been very lucky:

The only thing I’ve been able to buy is four [packs] of butter. I’m waiting to see what else they have, but I have to leave at 3:00 PM because otherwise I’ll get [figuratively] killed in the subway [rush hour], which is another disaster.

I don’t deserve this kind of life. I remember that before, I could go to the movies or to the beach with the money I earned. Now, my standard of living has decreased. I work only so that I can buy food, and even that I can’t do. This is draining; it is an joke, it is humiliation.

Dicxibeth Fernandez, a 25-year-old resident of Petare got lucky, and told El Nacional that she had been able to buy rice, pasta, cooking oil, dish soap, sanitary napkins, diapers and razors. 60 year-old Carmen Rodriguez, however, was not so lucky:

I asked for the day off because I don’t have anything to eat at home. They said they’d bring out pasta [at the supermarket], but I’ll have to wait and see.

Minimum Monthly Salary Buys 7.9% of Nutrition Requirements

The Centro de Documentacion y Analisis Social de la Federacion de Maestros [CENDAS] revealed yesterday that a Venezuelan earning the minimum monthly salary is only able to afford 7.9% of the total amount of food needed to eat a healthy diet for a month.

CENDAS, which tracks the daily rise in food prices, calculated that in February, a Venezuelan needed to spend Bs. 176,945.45 per month to ensure a healthy diet, a figure that is 18.3 times higher than the minimum monthly salary.

Ministry of Electrical Energy Luis Motta Dominguez called on God to help his office resolve the country’s crippling electricity crisis through a tweet yesterday. The tweet reads:

It’s not only technology and all of our efforts! We also need Him… Praise be to God!

Venezuela is a predominantly Catholic country, and Motta’s comments are not exactly out of place within that context. However, Motta’s comments raised eyebrows on social media, as some Venezuelans wondered if hoping for a miracle to resolve the country’s electricity crisis is an effective government policy.

Similarly, Maduro drew widespread ridicule last year when, while speaking about the worsening economic and social crises in the country, he said that “God will provide” a solution to Venezuela’s problems.

It’s a ridiculous process. Get signatures to get more signatures to get more signatures. We’ve even had off against the violent drunks that make up Lucena’s Honour Guard. But none of this will stop us. We’ve launched protests in different CNE [offices around the country] today, and we will carry out continuous demonstrations until April 19.